War of the Weave
by TheLastMagi
Summary: The Weave has recouperated from the madness with the Shadow Magi, the Calders, and Nagsis' impersonation of Gia. Now, Paradwyn calls for aid from it's only ally, and Iyori seeks out the help of the one Magi who can help her in her fight against the Core..
1. Stalk the Stalk

Dawn. The sun was beginning to sprinkle through the thick canopy of the steamy jungles of Paradwyn. Here and there, Scarletsong Hwits were beginning to wake and belt their shrills songs. Bagalas began to stretch and yawn, preparing for another day of silent hunting, pouncing on anyone foolish enough to try and traverse the jungle floor. As the beasts of the jungle rose from their slumber, so did the Magi of Paradwyn.

"This is gonna be a busy day…" Kioko thought to herself. As she lithely sprung from her bed, the familiar shape of a tall, muscular Magi appeared in her doorframe. "Kioko! You up yet? Goodness, girl, you sleep heavier than an Ormagon!" As she turned from cutting open a mushyfruit, the big Magi let the bag he was carrying slump to the floor. As it hit, the contents let out a funny sort of clunking.

"Still carrying those ridiculous drums around with you, eh, Ookami? You know, as great as you are at playing them, they still make you a horrible stalker. All that thumping gives you away!" She tossed him a half of the mushyfruit and went to stand in the window of her humble hut.

Staring off into the distance, she could see the massive grass sea of the Weave swaying to and fro in the winds. "You know, the Weave is finally sending us a couple of Magi to help defend our borders. They're supposed to be arriving today." Kioko trailed off into thought, still gazing into the distance. "What? How come no one told me about this? Well, whatever. How much help could a bunch of braid-headed grass-folk be when we need people to sneak up on our enemies? I mean, honestly! They aren't even all that tough. Buncha sissy pacifists if you ask me."

"I don't really think you're giving them a chance, Ookami. You shouldn't underestimate them. Just because they don't like to fight doesn't mean they can't. Besides, Bazha himself went to the Weave to hand select the party. Only two made the cut." Kioko had always liked the people of the Weave, ever since she had met Iyori, when all the trouble with the Shadow Magi was brewing. She had proven to Kioko that the Weave was not just a push-over region, capable of holding their own in a fight. She even learned a little bit of stalking and tracking from Kioko. Unfortunately, she would not be joining the Weavers coming to Paradwyn. Gia had requested that she stay behind, in case Cald decided to move on the Weave again.

Heaving himself up from the floor, Ookami picked up his clunking bag, and walked over to the door. "Whatever you say. Let's just hope they've got something up their sleeves to hold of those insane Bograthians." Kioko smiled. "Fingers crossed!"



"Ugh… hey, Bo'Ahsa, I'm starting to not feel so great about this," Rehlya yelled up to her fellow Weaver. "I don't know what I just stepped in, but sure felt pretty nasty… do we really have to do this?" Bo'Ahsa, getting a little tired of Rehlya's whining, twirled on her heel, her long, dark braids flailing in all directions. "Yes. Paradwyn needs help, and, being their sole available ally right now, we need to do all we can for them. Gia should have sent more than just us, but that crazy old girl thinks two is enough to turn the tide of this nutty war. So, in short, yes, we need to keep going." She slowly turned back around, trying to relax; though, in this noisy, mucky jungle, that would prove to be quite the task.

Feeling bad about getting her friend up in a fluster, Rehlya decided that maybe it would be best if she just stopped talking until they got to where they were going. But, still disgusted by the gunk on her shoes, she slipped on a ring with a large piece of Animite, and began to form the image of a massive creature in her head. Channeling her energy into the ring, a flash burst from it, and the huge form of a junjertrug appeared in front of her. The massive, furry beast knelt so that its master could climb up his tusks to get on it's back.

Still trudging on, Bo'Ahsa didn't even realize that her friend had summoned the dream creature. "You know, this is a lot easier if you ride." Rehlya cast Bo'Ahsa a goofy, slanted smile, and helped her friend get up onto the great creature's back. "Thanks. To be totally honest, I was starting to get a little- EEP!"

Before she could finish her sentence, an impressively fit looking Magi was standing on the junjertrug's head, his face so close to Bo'Ahsa's, their noses were almost touching. "It's about time you two showed up! We've been waiting all morning." Feeling off-balance on the swaying dream creature's head, the green-skinned Magi politely looked at Rehlya. "If you wouldn't mind, this big lug isn't going to be able to continue with much ease from here, so if you could just undream it, I'm sure we'd all be very grateful.

"Wha- how did you know I summoned this?" Rehlya was utterly blown away with the fact that he knew exactly who the junjertrug belonged to. "Hmm? Oh, I've been following you since you hit the border. Up in the treetops." Hitting himself in the forehead, the athletic Magi laughed, and realized how rude he'd been. "I'm sorry. I pounce on you then don't even introduce myself! I'm Yricho. And you are?"

"I'm Bo'Ahsa, and this is Rehlya. We're here to provide you with…" Once again, before she could finish, the playful Magi cut her off. "Blah, blah, blah. No need to be so serious. I know you're here to fight, I just wanted to know your names. Well, now that we all know each other, let's head to the Lifekeeper's place, eh? Oh, and no more pack animals. Completely useless in the jungle…"


	2. Into the Fog

The Weave. A mile-deep ocean of grass, flowing and swaying in the winds, providing for all who live within it. The Magi of the Weave know how to manipulate their surroundings into dwellings, roads, tools, even creatures; anything they need, they can forge from the massive blades of grass that form their home. Though passive, the Weave knows how to defend itself, the creatures of the region capable of channeling their energy into one another as needed, as they are all woven together in the whole of the great grass sea.

This morning, like many others, began quietly, the homes of the Magi lightly rocking in the winds. Yerthe and Kolte had set out early to begin their trek into the sands of D'Resh, seeking the aid of the Magi that lived in the barren wasteland south of their home. After the Shadow Magi had passed through, the Magi of the Weave realized that they were no longer completely safe from the outside just because they did not quarrel with the other regions. If anyone could help them fight the Core, it would be those from D'Resh.

Bo'Ahsa and Rehlya had also left, heading into the jungles of Paradwyn, to provide their tired allies with a little relief against the constant skirmishes with the Bograthians. After Korg was defeated, Olabra reclaimed her title as leader of the stinking swamplands of the east. Since they had not defeated Paradwyn as they had hoped, she had begun to send small parties to the borders of their land to try and keep the Magi of the jungle region stretched thin. Gia, elder of the Weave, decided to send a small group of some of her more powerful Magi to assist in keeping the swamp-dwellers in their bog. Of course, Bazha, Keeper of Paradwyn, had refused to accept anything more than two individuals. He had gone to the Weave and hand-selected Bo'Ahsa, captain of the home guard, and Rehlya, a young but extremely ambitious Magi.

And within the Weave, Iyori was preparing her battle plans.

"If we strike out against the Dark Twins too quickly, we may find ourselves in over our heads. But if we don't act soon, their power will only continue to expand… Zaya, do you have any ideas on how we can get to know our enemy before we actually have to fight?" The old, grizzled healer looked up from the vial she was fiddling with. "Oh, of course. Wence can help you." Staring blankly at Zaya, Iyori couldn't believe the fact that she had forgotten the one man who could get into anyplace and out again to tell the world. And besides, he was very close to the Weave, claiming it as a second home of sorts, since the fall of Naroom. Zaya continued to shake and twirl her vial, chuckling to herself. "You young kids never notice the simplest path unless it hits you in the face."

Iyori shrugged off the remark and went back to reviewing her maps. Under her breath "The problem with that is, how do you find a wanderer?"



"Man alive, it's hot out here!" Yerthe and Kolte had been in D'Resh for about an hour before Kelte started complaining about the conditions. Bearing his task with solemn determination, Yerthe, Warden of Hyrens, had been doing his best to keep from snapping at his friend. "Well, it's just something we're going to have to get used to. This trip isn't going to be short, and no one said it would be pleasant. You know, you didn't even have to come." Kolte grinned and shoved his friend hard. "You don't think I'd let you have all the glory for yourself, do you? Besides, whenever you get sent off on some quest, or just go on one of your own, I always tag along. It's the way we work!"

Yerthe couldn't help but smile at his constant partner. Often overly reckless and headstrong, Kolte had made some of their outings quite difficult. Of course, he had proven to be quite useful when the time was appropriate, as well.

As the two continued to cross the dunes, Yerthe started to think. This was the first time he'd had to go very deep into D'Resh, and word had it that there was a hyren in the region not in his menagerie, the Sand Hyren. If he could find and obtain this rare beast, it would make the journey all the more rewarding.

Sensing the warder's brooding, Kolte started whining again. "Why couldn't these people live someplace more pleasant? Not only am I hot, I can barely walk on these sand hills…" "Dunes," Yerthe interjected. "Whatever. It's hot, I can barely keep my balance, there's nothing but sand everywhere, and my braids are coming undone."

Yerthe just chuckled and tried to ignore the constant complaints from his foolhardy friend, his thoughts on adding yet another majestic hyren to his extensive arsenal…



In Paradwyn, Ookami, who kept telling her what an incapable fighter she was, had harassed Rehlya all day. "Come on! You, fight? You look like you couldn't even hurt a vard!" Getting more and more flustered with each remark, Rehlya became quite defensive.

"Oh, yeah? You just watch! I'm gonna march right into Bograth and fight the first Magi I find. And you know what? I'm gonna beat him, or her, or whatever is unlucky enough to get in my way!" Whirling on her heels, she scooped up her satchel of rings and stormed out the door.

Kioko walked into the room along with Bo'Ahsa. "What was that all about?" Ookami had a look of guilt on his face, and related the story of his pestering Rehlya, and her sudden ultimatum.

Kioko was furious. "Great. So now she's going to go put herself in harm's way just because you had to be a jerk. You get out there and follow her, and make sure she doesn't get hurt!" Ookami made to argue, but then realized it would be useless. He picked up the bag carrying his drums, and sulked out of the hut.

"I'm really sorry about that," Kioko said to Bo'Ahsa. "He just doesn't see why we need the help of 'pacifists.'" Bo'Ahsa sighed and shrugged. "It's not a problem. We get that a lot. She's just young, and a little touchy about her abilities. Maybe this will be good for her, even if it means having to have sense knocked into her…"



Heading into the swamps of Bograth, Rehlya was ready for anything that came at her, all of her favorite rings in place. Unfortunately, she didn't realize that Bograth was as disgusting as this. Pools of fetid ooze, soggy moss dangling from dead trees, dense, impenetrable fog, and worst of all, the stench of decay penetrated everything. Trying not to think about it, Rehlya continued to trudge through the grotesque swamp.

After some time, she sat down at the edge of a lake, if it could be called a lake, to rest. Beginning to feel a little foolish, she thought about turning around. "I can't go back yet! If I quit now, I'll never hear the end of it from Ookami. Guess I gotta keep going." Heaving herself up off of the rock she was sitting on, she saw something moving in the fog. Creeping up further, she could see that it was a tall skulking Magi, his eyes glowing a sickly yellow from under his cowl.

"Hey you!" Rehlya burst from her hiding place in the bushes to confront the scraggly Magi. "I'm from the Weave and I'm here to fight you. Come on, let's go."

He turned slowly and stared dumbfoundedly at the seemingly reckless girl. "You're a little far from home to be picking fights, aren't you? Why not just run back home and I'll pretend that this didn't happen. Okay?"

Annoyance flashed across her face, which she quickly steeled. "No, I am going to fight you here and now. Oh, and so I can have proof of my victory, what's your name?"

"I'm Blygt, the Magnificent Remembering Guy, which is for the best, I guess, because then only I will be able to remember your pathetic attempt to challenge Bograth." His taunt made Rehlya furious, and she dove into action, channeling her energy into her rings, bringing forth a pair of sagaweaves and a paradar. The pair of sagaweaves began to advance on the undefended Magi, while the paradar just stood and watched giving his Magi more knowledge of the environment.

Before the two grass-woven creatures could strike Blygt, he slipped on his rings and summoned an moob, a zungg, and a looph. But, almost as soon as his dream creatures were visible, the sagaweaves thrashed through them. A confident smile spread across Rehlya's face.

"Hmph. So you think destroying them was the last you'd see of them, did you? They don't call me the Magnificent Remembering Guy for nothing." As he finished his sentence, two of the fallen creatures began to rise up out of the muck. Lashing back, they managed to catch one of the sagaweaves off its guard. The creature vanished in a twinkling of animite.

Rehlya's smile quickly faded as she realized anything she destroyed would just come back, weaker, but that meant he had a constant stream of dream creatures at his disposal. "Okay, you want to play that way? Bring it on!" Slipping on a massive ring, she formed the image of her mighty junjertrug, and channeled her energy to summon the monstrous creature.

"Oh, I'm shaking. Sheer numbers will overwhelm it anyway!" Again, more creatures rose out the bog, tearing at the junjertrug. But, just as it was about to fall, Rehlya's forgotten paradar slipped her a bit of extremely useful knowledge.

She gasped, and, as she did, began to move her hands about in a pattern only recognizable to someone from the Weave. As she did, all of Blygt's undead creatures vanished, leaving only animite behind, and the junjertrug was looking stronger than when it had first arrived.

Blygt was stunned. "What?! How did you do that?" Putting on another ring, he summoned a sarazen outcast, which snarled and glared at the junjertrug. Lashing out with its three heads, it tore the junjertrug to the ground. But, as it rose, from its victory, it began to fade from existence. "There's no way! What kind of spell have you cast?" Blygt was now furious at the outcome of these clashes.

He summoned more creatures, trulbs, ainjers, mydras. Rehlya did the same, summoning vuryips, zassyfers, and podys. And once again, after the creatures clashed, hers remained, looking stronger than before.

Blygt tried summoning the largest creature in his arsenal, the tar hyren, which thrashed through the vuryips and zassyfers. And then he saw it.

As his mighty dream creature was attacking, he saw various grasses flowing up from the ground and wrapping around the legs of his creature. "You're draining their energy through the grass!" Then he saw that the grass was also attached to her creatures. "And then putting it into your own?!" The tar hyren came to a crashing halt against the paradar, both creatures vanishing in a twinkling of animite.

"So you noticed." Rehlya walked towards the stunned Bograthian with a calm, confident stride. Summoning her last junjertrug, she exhausted her energy as the beast slammed into Blygt, throwing him to the ground in an unconscious heap.

"Well, that wasn't too bad." She leaned on her furry giant and began to recover from the duel. Before she could even make it out of the clearing, she heard a twisted, unsettling cackle from within the woods…




	3. There's Only So Much You Can Take

"Heeheeheehee!" A vile cackling slithered its way through the fog of the swamp to Rehlya's ears. "Trompin' around an' smackin' up me friends? Not a good idea, lass. 'Fraid now I'm gonna 'ave'ta teach ye a lesson." A short Magi had come out from hiding to reveal herself. "Me name's Granna. An' to be totally 'onest, I think you're quite rude."

Still exhausted from her fight with Blygt, Rehlya started to panic. _What should I do? I can barely stand up! Maybe I can keep her talking to buy some time to recover._

"How long have you been skulking over there?" Rehlya didn't think that talking to the little Magi would do much good, but right now, even the slightest bit of time would help her. "I don't see 'ow that's any of ye business, but I saw the 'ole fight. You popped the ol' bloke a good one, didn't ye?" Granna chuckled to herself and looked over to where Blygt had landed after the junjertrug tackled him. The gangly Magi was still lying there, motionless.

Seizing the moment, Rehlya commanded her junjertrug to charge Granna. Realizing she was under attack, the little Bograthian quickly began summoning all manner of creatures. The junjertrug thrashed through almost all of them in its thundering rage, but came to a halt after hitting a torpar bigger than Rehlya had ever seen. The junjertrug reared back and charged again, furious that this new creature had been able to slow him.

"Oh, musta slipped my mind. My critters like sharin' with one anotheh as they come from the Dream Realm." Granna then proceeded to cackle her maniacal cackle, unsettling Rehlya even more. "Guess I'll just have to hit them harder then! Take that thing down!" Her junjertrug crashed and thundered through the swamp, slamming its full weight into the torpar, decimating the big creature.

Regaining her cool, Rehlya began to pull various relics out of her pouch. The Weave Mat Iyori had given her before she left was what she was looking for. It would provide her with all the knowledge she'd need for the fight, if she could just remember where she put it.

While struggling to find it, Granna had summoned up a veritable army of Dream Creatures, all gnawing and thrashing at the junjertrug. Without Rehlya working her Weave magic on the grass, it was overwhelmed by the Bograthian hordes, crashing to the ground, then dissolving into animite.

Realizing she had forgotten to start weaving the creatures together, Rehlya stopped rummaging and started summoning more creatures. Forming the image of her ever-faithful sagaweaves in her mind, the pair of grass woven creatures flashed into existence, and she began to fluidly move her hands in the artful form of the Weave.

"Ah, so ye think that trick'll work on me, do ye?" Granna had already seen Rehlya working her Weave magic from the bushes where she had been watching Blygt's fight. Summoning more creatures, they all pulled extra energy from the Dream Realm as the came into the Moonlands, somewhat countering the Weave spell. Still, with Rehlya transferring the energies of Granna's creatures into her own, it was almost impossible to stop the Weavers creatures, even with the massive number of dream creatures the little Bograthian had summoned.

Once again, creature after creature fell to Rehlya's spell, and her creatures thrashed and ravaged the opposition. Summoning a jumbor, Rehlya threw everything she had left in her at Granna, cudgeling her into unconsciousness.

As the little Magi fainted, Rehlya tapped her rings to release her creatures. Almost as soon as she had, she collapsed in a heap on the ground, exhausted from the fights. Of course, in a place like Bograth, safety is not to be found lying face down in the middle of a clearing…




	4. Take The Fall

_Oh, man. Where'd she get to?_ Ookami was flying through the treetops looking for Rehlya. After she had run off, Ookami had waited a little while before setting off in pursuit of her. "If she wants to prove herself, let her." That's what he had said. But now, after hearing the sounds of multiple clashes in the distance, he had picked up his pace, hoping that she hadn't been too injured.

Spotting the clearing where the duels had taken place, he started to lower himself through the trees, trying to get a better view of the ground. All around, vegetation had been crushed into the ground, animite fragments were scattered about, and two Bograth Magi were lying unconscious on the ground.

_Wow, the girl DOES know how to handle herself. But where is she now?_

Looking closer, he saw a massive pair of footprints leading off into the dank swamps, but there were no signs of the lithe Weavers tracks. _Great…_



Brog had a headache. All sorts of noises had been glaring from the lake, and he was trying to sleep. Trying his best to block out the irritating crashes, rumbles, and shrieks of dream creatures, the massive Magi tossed and turned until he got irritated enough to just go find out what the problem was.

Stumbling along in a sleepy stroll, Brog found the problem relatively quickly. He saw Granna go flying past him, landing unconscious in a very unflattering pose. Shrugging off the bizarre incident, he proceeded to enter the clearing around the lake. Here, he found young Weaver, facedown in the mud, obviously completely exhausted. As he approached, she woke up, staggering to her feet, attempting to stand up as straight as she could, putting on just a handful of rings.

"Who is you? You are keeping Brog from sleep." The giant Bograthian towered over the little girl, who attempted to look as intimidating as she could.

"Don't… don't come any closer. I'm… still standing. Bring it…"

Brog stared at her with a sort of confused glaze on his face, wondering what on earth this crazy Weaver was thinking. "No fighting. Just stop making noise."

But the Magi was set on a fight, summoning up an Aritex, which quickly channeled a massive amount of energy into the girl.

Shaking his head, Brog started dreaming up creatures of his own, but mostly, just various sorts of disgusting, oozing gunk.

The little Weave Magi was now getting serious, summoning zassyfers and podys to counter Brog's slimy servants. But they weren't able to stand up to the hordes of what she supposed were some sort of Arboll, or even the stuff that just looked like, well, green stuff. Too tired to keep working her Weave magic, she watched as her creatures vanished and twinkled out of the Moonlands, realizing that now she was in over her head.

"I not ask for fight. Just want noise to stop. Oh, well, I take you to Olabra. She know what to do…" As the Weaver collapsed, utterly exhausted, Brog scooped her up and carried her off to the current leader of Bograth, the Really Greatest Elder Ever, Olabra.



Following the deep, large tracks in the mud, Ookami was moving quite deep into the swamplands of Bograth. _She must have been captured after those first two duels. I just hope she's okay…_ The jungle drummer was almost in a state of panic, frantically searching for his new ally.

As he traversed deeper into the great bog, he came across a small hut, decorated with various mosses and what he guessed were some kind of leaves. Slowly approaching the dwelling, he heard people talking inside. One voice was deep and slow, kind of stupid sounding, and the other was higher, more intelligent sounding.

"Brog was trying to nap. All kind of noise was at the lake. Brog went to look for noise. Found her and Brog's friends in bad shape. She wanted fight, Brog wins. Now what we do?" Peering through the window, Ookami could recognize the huge form of that oaf, Brog, talking with the hunched over shape of the newly proclaimed leader of Bograth, Olabra.

"Hmmm… we can't let her leave, because that would give Paradwyn their ally back, so I guess we will just hang on to her for now, maybe use her as a bargaining chip…" Olabra was already scheming how to use Rehlya to her advantage.

"Go find Obgren. I need a report on the status of our borders. I am going to go recover Blygt and Granna, if they haven't already recouperated." The two Magi then left the dwelling, leaving Rehlya to sleep in her makeshift cell.

After Brog and Olabra had left, Ookami moved into the hut, breaking the simples ties that held the door closed and scooped up the exhausted Weaver in his arms. "Did I win yet?" Rehlya mumbled in her sleep.

"You did great, kid. Just great…"




End file.
